anyone Who has read my rants over the past few years knows that I'm not a fan of Joe Brady. I called for his firing last year and felt that this team needed a complete makeover, start from scratch, with a new head coach, offensive coordinator and general manager. Well I didn't get my wish but having watched the first game of the season I am at least somewhat optimistic that Joe Brady learned from his mistakes last year and that we have a better chance of getting to the promised land.
I didn't like the way the game started out. From the first drive he ran the ball every time but once and that was a 2 yard pass to James Cook. His 3rd and four call was a run which didn’t work. His 4th down call, a Josh Allen bootleg didn't work. The 4th down call would have worked had former All Pro tackle Dion Dawkins been able to make a simple block, so I don’t blame Brady or that. I do, however, put some blame upon him for not throwing the ball right off the bat. Josh Allen might be the best quarterback I've ever seen. To take the ball out of his hands on that first series made no sense.
After that, however, I was pleasantly surprised with his play calling. Going into the game I was worried about the Texans defense and how good they are when faced with second or third in long situations. Over the next three and a half quarters, for the most part, Brady called which allowed Josh to throw on first down. Those plays generally led to second Situations which gave Brady many options. While Cook did not have a great day running he still averaged 4 1/2 yards per carry which is very competent.
Again it's tough to criticize a coach who puts up 36 points against one of the best defenses in football. That said, I do have 4 criticisms from this game:
1. Joe Brady’s call to throw a pass On first end goal from the one yard line was the dumbest call I've seen from a coach since Pete Carroll made that same famous call in the Super Bowl which resulted in Malcolm Butler intercepting the pass and clenching the game for the Patriots. In Sunday's game Brady was faced with a first in goal from the Texans one yard line. He has Josh **** Allen. Instead of doing the easy tush push for easy touchdown he decided to throw a slant pass just beyond the line of scrimmage to Shakir. It was one of the most stupid play calls I have ever seen. Not only was the ball almost picked off and returned 99 yards for a Texans touchdown but the stupidity of throwing the ball in that spot made no sense. If you are going to have Josh Allen throw the ball from the one yard line on first and goal, which I would never recommend, at least make it a safe pass so that if it's not a touchdown it's an incompletion. A rollout, A pass to the corner of the end zone, anything of that nature would at least have been safe. Instead, It seemed like Brady wanted to show everyone how smart he was. That could have cost the Bills the game. That is a mistake that he can never make again and should have never made in the first place
2. The second criticism comes with the two point conversion late in the game. For whatever reason Brady is infatuated with Keon Coleman On two point conversion attempts period last year we were successful on only two of nine 2 point conversion attempts. On 7 of those 9 attempts Josh through pass to Coleman. What happened on Sunday? The exact same thing. Coleman comes into the game as a big bodied receiver, Josh rolls to his right and tries to hit Coleman in the back of the end zone where he was well covered. One would think that being the offensive coordinator last year and seeing that you only were able to to convert on two of 9 two point conversions, that you would have come up with some type of a different play in this situation. If they made the two point conversion they guaranteed themselves a 7 point lead. By missing the two point conversion, the Titans could win the game With a touchdown. Great coordinators figure out how to come up with a big play when they need it. He needs to figure out his strategy on these two point conversions because a 20% success rate does not work..
3. The 3rd criticism was on the Bill's Last drive of the third quarter. We had a three point lead and we with an opportunity to make it a 10 point lead with a touchdown. A field goal still gave the Titans the opportunity to come down the field which they had done on four prior occasions and score a touchdown to beat us. We were faced with a 3rd down and twelve from the Houston 18 yard line after Josh took a 5 yard sack. Instead of trying to pick up the first down by throwing the ball downfield Brady regressed again to his old famous wide receiver screen pass to Shakir. Predictably it went for a two yard gain. Predictably we kicked the field goal and now had a six point lead. Again, We have Josh **** Allen. How many times has he made a first down on a third and 12 situation. We had a three point lead. Turning it into a six point lead doesn't do that much. It's not as if we needed the two or three yards to get into field goal range. Last year Brady became infatuated with the wide receiver screen. On occasion it would work. Those occasions were not on 3rd down and long yardage. He basically said to the offense and to Josh **** Allen that I don't trust you to throw the ball down the field and try to get the first down here. In that situation with that three point lead and with the ball at their 18 yard line the call made no sense
4. Lastly I again go to a 3rd down call. The bills were down 2827 and had the ball at the beginning of the 4th quarter. They started out at their 34 yard line. After a 40 yard pass to Dalton Kincaid we had the ball first down at the Houston 20. Again Brady reverted to his conservative nature. He ran Cook up the middle for three yards and then a dump off pass to Cook for another three yards. We were faced with a 3rd down and yards to go. We needed to pick up two or three yards to be able to go forward on 4th down. The Alternative was to throw a pass and try to pick up the yardage. I understand him to get three points out of that situation but the second and third down calls after what Josh had been doing throughout the game were conservative and resulted in us getting three points instead of 6. The short pass to Shakir fell incomplete and we were forced to kick the field goal.
Overall the off played very well. Josh Allen was tremendous as usual. The addition of DJ Moore to the offense opened up opportunities for the other receivers. Dalton Kincaid showed that if he stays healthy he can be one of the best tight ends in football. He has great hands, runs great routes and is not able to be covered by most defensive backs in this league. Moore was also tremendous. The catch he made down the sideline which he turned into a touchdown was beautiful. Before the season started it was my opinion that DJ Moore would have a good year this year but not a great year. I believed that his presence on the field would open up so many more opportunities for our secondary receivers such as Kincaid, Palmer, Shakir And the like. After watching the first game, however, I do believe that not only is he going to have a very good year but that he will also continue to open up the passing game for the other receivers. I would like to see James Cook used more in the passing game as a downfield threat rather than the mere dump plays that we see.
defensively we have a lot of work to doDefensively we have a lot of work to do. The secondary was torched almost all day. I'm sorry but Damar Hamlin has no business playing in the NFL. The fact that he has been in that position for three years without our general manager being able to find a replacement says a lot about Beane. Last year we spent a first round draft pick on a cornerback. This year we spent a second round draft pick on a cornerback. Neither of them stood out yesterday. Yes they are young and yes it is a new defense but we need to figure out things fast especially with the Detroit Lions coming into town on Thursday night and how great their offense is.
I thought that Greg Rousseau had one of the best games of his career. His two strip sacks on the first and last series of the game we're game changing. Almost as impressive was when he dropped back as a linebacker, dove and deflected a pass which would have been a first down for the Texans deep in their own territory. This Play ca a subsequent punt. You don't see many defensive ends making that type of a play.
Dionne Walker was also a beast. His sack on the Texans last series of the game set up the final strip sack by Rousseau. Walker clogged up the middle, prevented the Texans running game from getting off the ground. This being his second year in the league he is a beast. I look forward to him the rest of the year and how he improves. Lastly, Ed Oliver Was also very impressive. If he can just stay healthy this year he will be the anchor of our defense. He can rush the passer, stop the run and is overall a great player when he is healthy.
Looking forward to Thursday night's game. The Lions defense does not scare me at all. Their offense, however, terrifies me. They have two great wide receivers, the overall running in football and a very good Tight end. While Jared Goff has some limitations, he has been able to put up points on good defenses. Our defense needs to get its act together quickly and figure out how to get teams off the field. 3rd down and long should not be something that the teams make first downs on against us.
Bills 37-30 win Thursday. Go Bills.